Whatever the audience likes, car companies are willing to show it.
For example, at domestic auto shows, the audience’s favorite items are car models, and naturally, various car companies are working hard on car models.
I may not be able to match you in car performance, but I can't lose to you in car models, right?
Therefore, you will find that on some self-owned brand websites, the appearance of the car models is actually higher than that of joint venture car companies.
But at the Geneva Motor Show, car models are no longer the focus of everyone's attention.
Even most car companies don’t hire car models.
Consumers here are interested in the performance of cars and the new technologies used in cars.
Xingchen Motors also knows this, so it focuses on introducing its W12 engine, 8AT and 8MT gearboxes, as well as its advanced body that combines carbon fiber and hot stamping.
These are things that consumers are very interested in.
In particular, carbon fiber, which has been relatively popular during this period, has attracted the attention of many people.
Strictly speaking, the Star Sports Car is not the first car company to use a large amount of carbon fiber in its cars.
It’s just that the amount of carbon fiber used in the Starry Sky is relatively large. So far, there is no mass-market car model that uses more carbon fiber than the Starry Sky.
Therefore, for publicity purposes, Xingchen Automobile naturally wants to focus on promoting Xingkong's status as "the first mass-produced sports car to use carbon fiber body on a large scale."
However, some people are definitely not convinced by this propaganda.
Ferrari is one of them.
"Felisa, judging from the current test data of the R&D department, the 100-kilometer acceleration performance of the Star Sports Car is indeed better than that of the Enzo."
"We can only achieve 3.6 seconds, but Xingkong can achieve it within 3 seconds."
"In terms of the amount of carbon fiber body used, Xingkong does use more carbon fiber than us."
"However, they continue to slander our Enzo model in China, which is really excessive."
Ferrari's sales director Matt accompanied Vice President Felisa to the Xingchen Automobile platform.
Know thyself, ever-victorious.
Ferrari naturally understands this truth.
"Although their engine is also twelve-cylinder, Xingkong also has a hybrid system added to it. This should be an important reason why their acceleration performance from 100 kilometers to 100 kilometers is better than ours."
"Matt, do you think this kind of power configuration has a future?"
Although Felisa's mood was quite heavy, she was not furious.
Getting angry won't solve the problem.
He knew this very well.
The board has given him hints that Felissa will become Ferrari president next year.
In this case, he needs to control his emotions even more.
"Hybrid systems are generally only used in economical cars. The main purpose is to reduce fuel consumption."
"Xingchen Automobile is the first company to use a hybrid system in a supercar."
“Although I think this may not be a very creative move, with the hybrid system, it can still play a very good role in the starting acceleration performance of the sports car, and it can also effectively reduce fuel consumption and improve driving mileage. "
"As for the shortcomings..."
Matt thought for a while and continued: "The disadvantage is that the entire system will become more cumbersome, and the chassis layout and body design of the car will become more difficult."
Matt also knows his stuff.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been appointed as Ferrari's sales director.
"Chinese car companies can solve the problems of chassis layout and body design, can't we?"
Felisa's words were full of sourness.
This made Matt a little uncomfortable.
Today I should bring the R&D people over to visit the Xingchen Automobile booth.
This kind of question, what does a sales director do?
"I believe that the R&D team must have a way to solve this problem."
"However, our accumulation in hybrid technology was not very deep before. It will probably take several years to develop a similar platform."
"The Star Roadster will definitely put huge sales pressure on Enzo during this period."
"Especially the Xingchen Motors marketing staff constantly compare Enzo with Xingkong, as if they feel uncomfortable if they don't show that their performance is better than Enzo."
Matt's words were also very bitter.
When has Ferrari ever been disgusted by others?
The key is that with the performance data out there, it becomes very difficult for them to defend themselves.
Your skills are not as good as those of others. If you are making excuses, you may lose even more points with consumers.
"Car companies in the United States used to like to create some sports cars with good performance, but in the end they never came up with any decent sports cars."
“Building a car is not just about stacking up performance.”
"We in Europe are the birthplace of sports cars, the place with the most sports car companies, and the place with the most sports car culture and heritage."
"Ferrari has a large number of loyal customers around the world, and we can take advantage of this."
"As for the Starry Sky Sports Car, we try to avoid conflicts with them, otherwise we will be doing them a favor."
Felicia's mind was still very clear.
In this case, Xingchen Automobile must be eager for Ferrari to jump out and fight with it.
Then the heat comes.
Of course, just because Felica doesn't want to get involved with Xingchen Automobile doesn't mean that this goal can be achieved.
Many people can see Xingchen Auto's desire to touch the Ferrari Enzo.
But you can't stop it.
"Felisa, here in Europe, Xingchen Automobile is not that strong, so we shouldn't be particularly concerned about their situation."
"But in China and Asia, Xingchen Motors' publicity campaign is very powerful."
"Even if we don't want to conflict with them, I'm afraid it will be difficult."
"Just like the Star Sports car had a car accident some time ago, it had nothing to do with Ferrari."
"But some Chinese automotive media found some pictures of our Ferrari Enzo's car accidents and put them in an article for comment. They insisted that our safety performance is not as good as others."
"These actions have already had some impact on our sales in China."
When Matt said this, Felisa felt a little bit dizzy.
He can control the people at Ferrari, but he can't control the people at Xingchen Automobile.
"In this way, we can increase the price of Ferrari Enzo in China and completely widen the gap with Xingkong."
After walking around the Xingchen Automobile booth, Felisa finally came up with a very different solution.
Others are lowering prices in the face of competition, but he is doing the opposite.
Matt, who immediately understood the meaning behind it, couldn't help showing an expression of surprise on his face.
Although this plan cannot completely avoid the impact of the starry sky, it can solve the dilemma faced by Ferrari in China to a certain extent.
Anyway, the price of Ferrari is not affordable for ordinary people.
Raising the price will actually increase the brand power.
Xingchen Automobile can learn other things, but the price increase is always not suitable for learning, right?
…
"Mr. Cao, the person who just left is from Ferrari."
Xingchen Motors also has branches in Europe, and some of its employees know some of the executives of major European car companies quite well.
So as waves of visitors entered the Xingchen Bus platform, Cao Yang kept getting news.
The CEO of Maserati is here.
Lamborghini's design director is here.
The CEO of BMW came over.
The sales director of Mercedes-Benz is here.
Now that people from Ferrari are here, it doesn't seem surprising.
"Have people monitor Ferrari's actions in the past month to see if they have any new policies."
"Especially on the Chinese side, any changes they make must be taken seriously."
The star sports car's main target is the Ferrari Enzo, so Cao Yang naturally has to pay close attention to his opponent's movements.
Especially since the senior management of the company had already come to their showroom and stayed there for more than ten minutes, it was not like they were just looking around.
"Mr. Cao, Piech and Design Director Silva from Volkswagen are here."
Before Zeng Tingting and Cao Yang could continue discussing Ferrari's next move, the big boss of Volkswagen, an old rival, arrived.
In the past two years, the relationship between Volkswagen and Nanshan Group has been very tense.
Nanshan Group's business at Volkswagen has basically been replaced.
The two sides have gone through several moves in China.
Especially the collision between Passat and Passat directly knocked Volkswagen's mainstay model in China to the ground.
The current sales volume of Passat cannot be compared with that of Accord and Camry, or even with BYD F6 and Geely Emgrand.
Ford's Mondeo and Nissan's Teana also crushed the Passat.
To put it bluntly, after this collision, Passat has failed to recover in China.
At this auto show, Volkswagen also released a new generation of Passat.
The situation is even more subtle.
"They were not afraid of embarrassment at all and came directly to visit our booth."
Piëch and Silva came directly to visit the Xingchen Automobile booth, which indeed surprised Cao Yang.
They had briefly met before at the Yangcheng Auto Show.
Since they are not afraid to come over, the master Cao Yang is naturally not afraid to greet them either.
Of course, conversations between bosses often don't involve direct sword-to-sword confrontation.
Even though each of them hopes that the other will go bankrupt tomorrow, they are all smiling on the surface.
"Piëch, I just went to see your new generation Passat, and it looks pretty good."
"I just don't know what changes have been made in the use of materials on the car body."
Which pot is not opened and lifted?
There is no need to quarrel, but it is obviously impossible for Cao Yang to talk to Piëch while licking his face.
"Hot stamping technology itself originated in Europe, and it was the first European car companies to use it in mass-produced cars."
"This technology is not difficult for us at Volkswagen."
Piech stopped next to the display sample of the integrated hot-stamped door ring next to the Look Up and Starry Sky sports cars, pointing his finger at the nearby parts with a look of disdain on his face.
Of course, only he knows best what he is thinking in his heart.
"We have a saying in China that green is better than blue. Hot stamping technology indeed originated in Europe, but it has been carried forward in China."
"If Volkswagen cannot find a suitable supplier in China to produce related hot stamping parts in the future, you can contact me at any time."
Cao Yang's words seemed like he was soliciting orders, but in fact, the various implications were clear to both parties.
"The safety performance of this car body cannot be achieved by simply improving the material level."
“Just because consumers didn’t understand so much before doesn’t mean they never understood.”
"I believe that Volkswagen will let consumers see what is the most advanced and safest car body."
After Piëch and Cao Yang had a verbal argument, they walked around the Xingchen Automobile booth without any courtesy at all before leaving with Silva and others.
"Don't Chinese people always pay attention to gentleness and elegance?"
"Why did you become so sharp when you got to Xingchen Automobile?"
"Piëch, I think we cannot allow Nanshan Group to continue to grow and develop, otherwise our market environment in China will become increasingly severe in the future."
Silva felt a little heavy at this time.
When Ziweixing was first launched, it was famous for riding on the blood of Audi TT.
Nowadays, looking up has brought huge pressure on Audi Q7.
As for the Starry Sky Sports Car, although it is not yet a rival to Lamborghini, it still poses a threat.
To put it bluntly, every model of Xingchen Motors has had an impact on Volkswagen.
Not to mention that Nanshan engines and Nanshan gearboxes are supplied to a large number of self-owned brand models in China, causing the dominant position of various joint venture car companies, including North and South Volkswagen, to become precarious.
For traditional fuel vehicles, the engine and gearbox are the components that are most likely to cause problems and that consumers are most concerned about.
Now that this problem has been solved by Nanshan Group, life for the joint venture car companies has become not so easy.
Even as Chery, Geely, BYD, Great Wall, Changan and other car companies launch more and more new models, joint venture car companies have begun to feel tremendous pressure.
If this pace continues, Volkswagen's market share in China will continue to decline.
"I have already communicated with Fondel. The Chinese branch must make good use of this Imperial Capital Olympics."
"We will use this conference next year to re-establish the dominant positions of Volkswagen and Audi in China."
"To this end, the board of directors has agreed to approve an additional 200 million yuan in promotional funds."
Piëch is not one to sit still.
As a magical figure in the automotive industry, his personal abilities are very strong.
Even to a certain extent, he and Cao Yang are the same type of characters.
They are all the kind of car company CEOs who can personally design classic models.
"Xingchen Motors itself is also a car sponsor for key occasions of the Olympic Games. Before, there was only one Ziweixing, which was not enough. Now there are large SUVs to look up to, and even the Starry Sky Sports Car may appear."
"In this case, it may be a bit difficult for us to suppress them."
Silva's words can be said in private, but it is definitely not suitable to be said in a formal meeting.
Doesn't this boost the enemy's ambition?
"Xingchen Motors is not our main rival in China. Our positioning is completely different."
"At this time, we must find ways to seize the market from other joint venture car companies and seize the market from other independent Chinese brands."
"The company's new generation power platform has launched new models one after another."
"We must make good use of this opportunity to increase the sales of North and South Volkswagen."
"For example, when it comes to dealing with Toyota, Honda, and even Hyundai Motors, China's independent brands are very active, and we can also promote it behind the scenes."
When Piech said this, Silva was stunned.
It seems that I am still too naive.
No wonder he can only be a design director, but Piëch can be the chairman.
Of course, Cao Yang didn't know about these conversations.
His thoughts at this time were all about the car show.
Fortunately, Xingchen Automobile was well prepared and there was no trouble at the auto show.
All the publicity purposes were achieved.
After that, you can naturally return to your country with peace of mind.
However, just after Cao Yang returned home, he received a piece of news.
"The price of the Ferrari Enzo has been increased to 15 million?"
"So exaggerated?"
The price of this model in the United States is about 600,000 US dollars, and it was also sold in China for about 12 million US dollars.
Now it has suddenly increased to 15 million yuan, which is really surprising.
At this price, you can even buy a Bugatti Veyron overseas.
"I asked around and heard that this is the direction directly decided by Ferrari headquarters."
"Mr. Cao, do you think this matter has anything to do with our Starry Sky Sports Car?"
Zeng Tingting's business sense is quite keen.
Ferrari raised the price of the Enzo at this time. It is definitely unjustifiable to say that there is no reason.
"Ferrari has experts."
"Um?"
Hearing what Cao Yang said, Zeng Tingting was stunned.
What's the meaning?
Is the price increase still a good thing?
"Our starry sky sports car surpasses Enzo in all aspects of performance. Even Enzo's most classic red appearance has no advantage over the starry sky sports car."
"In this case, no matter how Ferrari markets and provides sales staff with words, it will be difficult to deal with some questions."
"It would be better to directly raise the price and completely separate Enzo's price from Xingkong's. On the contrary, we can retain a group of customers."
After Cao Yang explained this, Zeng Tingting somewhat understood.
The Starry Sky Sports Car is priced at 4.9999 million yuan.
Ferrari Enzo now costs almost 15 million yuan to buy.
Basically, you can buy three Stars for one Enzo.
The gap is so huge that no one can compare the two cars side by side.
"Mr. Cao, if Ferrari does this, when we launch the high-performance version of the W16 engine, Starry Sky, can we also significantly increase the price?"
Zeng Tingting's mind was spinning very quickly.
A solution was quickly thought of.
According to previous thinking, the price of the W16 engine Starry Sky will be one to two million yuan higher than the current price.
But now it seems that just one or two million more is not enough.
It is possible to further increase the selling price to eight to nine million, or even tens of millions.
Of course, in this way, it is easy to cause the domestic price of the Starry Sky Sports Car to be reversed from the price abroad.
This is another issue that needs to be considered.
“Let’s see the market response first!”
"Ferrari wants to break away from us, and we definitely can't let them do it!"
(End of chapter)
